tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post115886301382052117..comments2023-11-02T09:08:09.242-07:00Comments on <i>Daddy Dialectic</i>: Raising kids and social changeJeremy Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11733669114207985920noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post-1161010683966735042006-10-16T07:58:00.000-07:002006-10-16T07:58:00.000-07:00Justin, I still have to strongly disagree. Social ...Justin, I still have to strongly disagree. Social change is about the long term. You seem to be focusing on short term actions, which of course are very important. But part of revolution is also laying the groundwork for change. And that cannot happen unless we understand that change does come one person at a time. Structures of power change because people come together and force change. If people aren't raised to understand those forces, then change won't happen.<BR/><BR/>So I guess I'm saying I disagree with your either-or approach. Yes, union organizing is important, but so is raising our kids. They are both important, and saying raising our kids is important and even revolutionary does not mean that other more traditional ways of thinking about these issues is not.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the response.Chiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01503422107908380716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post-1159482304905490872006-09-28T15:25:00.000-07:002006-09-28T15:25:00.000-07:00Chip:I don't disagree with any of your thoughts on...Chip:<BR/><BR/>I don't disagree with any of your thoughts on raising children. As a believer in the "anything worth doing is worth doing well" school of life, everything you say is so undeniably true and joyful. There are so few things that feel anywhere near as wonderful as being a parent. And knowing you're doing it well, consistent with your values, is just all the more satisfying.<BR/><BR/>That being said, I stand by my statement that raising kids is not social change work and is not revolution. Raising my darling Violet (who is 1 today, by the way) does not change society. Raising her to be anti-racist and anti-sexist will, hopefully, result in an additional anti-racist, anti-sexist person. It will not, however, do anything to eliminate racism or sexism. I can't see how this can be argued against.<BR/><BR/>The statement I am trying to make is: having and raising children is not the most effective way to change society. That's all I'm trying to say. <BR/><BR/>There are jobs that are more important than raising children, more challenging than raising children and more helpful to others than raising children. It does not belittle child rearing to say this, just as it does not belittle anyone to say that rocket science is very complex and you have to be smarter than the average bear to do it. It does not mean you are an idiot if you cannot do rocket science. And it does not mean you cannot be a social change agent if you raise children.<BR/><BR/>Can any of us actually look, say, a janitor or homeless person in the eye and say, "don't worry, I'm doing the most important job in the world." Not the janitor's union organizer or their Local president; not the soup kitchen volunteer or the transitional housing advocate. But me--feeding Violet her Cherrios and swinging her in a swing.<BR/><BR/>Great stuff that I love doing. But we need to keep our feet on earth sometimes.Justin Hornerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14556169052237150457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post-1159019737950399392006-09-23T06:55:00.000-07:002006-09-23T06:55:00.000-07:00PS for more on my thoughts about politics and kids...PS for more on my thoughts about politics and kids see my post <A HREF="http://daddy-dialectic.blogspot.com/2006/07/politics-and-kids.html" REL="nofollow">Politics and kids</A> from this summer.Chiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01503422107908380716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post-1159017234572415202006-09-23T06:13:00.000-07:002006-09-23T06:13:00.000-07:00thanks for the links granny.Jared, politics is exa...thanks for the links granny.<BR/><BR/>Jared, politics is exactly about values. There's no two ways around it. <BR/><BR/>I teach my kids my values, what's right and what's wrong, not just in terms of personal behavior but also at a societal level. I teach my kids how to understand the world around them, about what society should look like and why it doesn't. That's politics. For you to reduce this to "rhetoric" is wrong.<BR/><BR/>My point is that as someone committed to social justice and progressive political change, raising my kids is the most important job I can do. Fatherhood IS about the world <I>as well as</I> about the child. You cannot separate the two. For me, my commitment to my kids and family is part and parcel of my commitment to my progressive values and goals.<BR/><BR/>So reducing this to "children as a tool of political activism" is really off the mark. I assume that you teach your kids your values, both actively and by example. That's what I do too. The difference is that my kids are growing up in a society that is hostile to our values, and I have to explain that to them, explain why, and give them the strength to stand up for what's right.<BR/><BR/>Keeping politics away from kids isn't possible. They are growing up in a society with particular structures of power -- better they understand what they're facing than that they remain clueless.Chiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01503422107908380716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post-1159014700416237272006-09-23T05:31:00.000-07:002006-09-23T05:31:00.000-07:00Maybe all the political rhetoric has led me to mis...Maybe all the political rhetoric has led me to miss the point, but, children as a tool of political activism? I have to say, I find that thought a little disturbing.<BR/><BR/>I teach my son the values I hold dear because I feel they're important and worthwhile, not to enact social change.<BR/><BR/>Fatherhood isn't about the world, it's about the child. Societal change is a consequence, not the goal.<BR/><BR/>And if our children were to meet, years from now, me the conservative, you the 'progressive', what then? What does teaching them this rhetoric serve?<BR/><BR/>There's a difference between civics and politics. I have to say, keeping politics away from kids doesn't seem such a bad idea.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post-1158966261241970872006-09-22T16:04:00.000-07:002006-09-22T16:04:00.000-07:00trying againTucker Carlsontrying again<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://isamericaburning.blogspot.com/2006/09/why-mommy-is-democrat-x-rated-not-for.html" REL="nofollow">Tucker Carlson</A>Grannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17283823157675990935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23363296.post-1158966208385042232006-09-22T16:03:00.000-07:002006-09-22T16:03:00.000-07:00Better be careful. http://isamericaburning.blogsp...Better be careful. <A HREF="" REL="nofollow">http://isamericaburning.blogspot.com/2006/09/why-mommy-is-democrat-x-rated-not-for.html">Tucker Carlson</A> is watching.<BR/><BR/>No politics for kids. He said so.Grannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17283823157675990935noreply@blogger.com